wfn.org | [LWR] Faith Group Leaders ask Bush, Kerry for Just New Columbia

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

News from Lutheran World Relief

MEDIA CONTACTS: 	 Kirsten Anderson-Stembridge, kanderson@lwr.org
			 Mike Maus, mmaus@lwr.org

Faith Group Leaders ask Bush, Kerry for Just New Colombia Policy Focused on 
Peace and Security

Washington, DC, October 14, 2004 - More than 700 Protestant and Catholic 
Americans are urging President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry to 
provide new strategy for U.S. policy on Colombia.  They have sent letters 
to each candidate calling for a "reassessment" of existing policy.

More than forty years of war in Colombia has devastated the country, killed 
thousands, and caused the internal displacement of three million people 
from their land and homes, forcing them to live as refugees in their own 
nation.

The letters urge a "new strategy" that responds to the needs of both 
nations by addressing the root causes of Colombia's civil conflict in ways 
that strengthen the peace and security of people in Colombia and the United 
States.

The letters are signed by the Presiding Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church in America and the Episcopal Church, U.S.A., the Presidents of 
Lutheran World Relief, Catholic Relief Services, the Conference of Major 
Superiors of Men, and the United Church of Christ, an executive of World 
Vision, and hundreds of local church leaders from across the country 
.  They say that now is the time for "a greater commitment to a negotiated, 
political path toward peace."  They also call for more "attention to social 
concerns" and for "humane drug policies that meet the needs of those most 
directly" affected.

The faith group leaders urge Mr. Bush and Senator Kerry to keep the United 
States "engaged" with the Colombian government and the organizations of 
civil society in "a manner that will support aspirations for a just and 
sustainable peace."

Lutheran World Relief President Kathryn Wolford says, "The United States 
can make a significant contribution to the long-term sustainability of 
peace in Colombia by shifting the focus of its aid to that country toward a 
great emphasis on effective social development."  Such development funding, 
she adds, would acknowledge the efforts of churches as well as local 
governments and other civil institutions that are "working together for 
lasting alternatives to violence and the inequality and poverty that 
sustain it."

The faith groups laud the "great courageof our Colombian brothers and 
sisters" and point to their "great needs."  The letters say their 
Protestant and Catholic signers "hope to work with" the candidates in a 
search for "durable solutions" to the problems related to the United 
States' Colombia policies.

Partial listing of signers:

The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church, USA

The Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick
Stated Clerk
Presbyterian Church (USA)

The Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar
General Secretary
National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA

The Rev. John L. McCullough
Executive Director and CEO
Church World Service

Bruce Wilkinson
Senior Vice President
International Programs Group
World Vision

Rosanne Rustemeyer, SSND
Executive Director
U.S. Catholic Mission Association

Carolyn Krebs, OP
President
Dominican Leadership
Dominican Sisters
Elkins Park, PA

Joe Volk
Executive Secretary
Friends Committee on National Legislation

Maureen Fenlon, OP
National Coordinator
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

The Rev. Ron Stief
Minister and Team Leader
Washington Office
United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries

The Reverend Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Rev. John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ

Very Rev. Ronald D. Witherup, S.S.
President
Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Ken Hackett
President
Catholic Relief Services

Kathryn Wolford
President
Lutheran World Relief

The Rev. Kenneth Gavin, S.J.
National Director
Jesuit Refugee Service/USA

Gail E. Mengel
National Board Minister
Church Women United

Marie Dennis
Director
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Jim Wallis
Editor
Sojourners Magazine

James Winkler
General Secretary
General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church

J. Daryl Byler
Director
Mennonite Central Committee, Washington Office.

The Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory
Director
Washington Office
Presbyterian Church, (USA)

Richard Parkins
Director
Episcopal Migration Ministries

Krisanne Vaillencourt
Executive Director
Witness for Peace

Patricia Clark
Executive Director
Fellowship of Reconciliation USA

Jim Atwood
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship